Below is an annotated list of children's literature for the elementary classroom. The books are organized by the Six Elements of Social Justice Curriculum Design (Picower, 2007). It is based on work by pre-service teachers at Montclair State University. They have read and reviewed these books and provided insights into how they can be used in K-5 settings.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Halmoni's Day

Element #1: "Halmoni's Day"

Title: Halmoni’s Day

Author: Edna Coe Bercaw

“Halmoni’s Day”, by Edna Coe Bercaw, is a book for children ages 5-9 that teach children self-love and knowledge through a very interesting story. “Halmoni’s Day” is about a little girl, Jennifer, who is very excited to see her grandmother that is visiting her from Korea. Halmoni, her grandmother, traveled a long way to attend Jennifer’s Grandparents’ Day at school. Although she cannot speak English, on Grandparent’s Day Jennifer’s mother translates a story to the class. The class is very impressed and interested in Halmoni’s story. This is when Jennifer starts to truly feel proud and lucky to be who she is. The element that I focused on was element one, self-love and knowledge. This book tells the story of Jennifer, who learned about her culture and heritage from her grandmother and then learned to appreciate who she is. “Halmoni’s Day” promotes a positive learning experience by integrating traditions along with a story. This book also helps eliminate negative stereotypes by encouraging the children to listen to others’ stories and be open-minded.

This book's story line along with the illustrations help the children learn about different cultures and traditions. I could use this book in many ways in my classroom. My first idea is read it aloud to my class and let my students talk about their own traditions within small groups. This will help the students appreciate where they have come from and also learn about where their fellow students have come from. I would encourage all the students to feel comfortable talking to each other and be respectful of what each person says. This book could also be used as an “ice breaker” possibly the first week of school. The book and activities combined can be a great way to have the students introduce their families to the class. I truly enjoyed reading this book and recommend it to parents and teachers that want to encourage self-love and knowledge.